London, Pan Cakes, A New Tutor, and "Hi! Kifak? Ca va"

Tuesday Feb 24th, 2009:
I went to London to meet up with Walid. He came to London on Sunday 22nd to attend a two day conference and was leaving on Wednesday 25th so we agreed to meet up to catch up. I had a class from 3 - 4 p.m. so I ran off after class to catch the bus then the train to London Waterloo station. He had told me that he was staying in a hotel near Hyde Park so I took the tube to an underground station called 'Hyde Park Corner'. After I got off I called him and he said that he was near Lancaster underground station *damn. So, I went back and took the tube again to meet him there. We first passed by a Disney shop where he bought gifts for his two daughters. Their favourite Disney character is the little mermaid; so naturally he bought them little mermaid stuff in addition to other toys. We then decided to go for dinner and we walked into a restaurant, which turned out to be Moroccan. The food was nice and the restaurant was very well decorated. We talked about a lot of stuff - none of which related to my previous job lol. After the dinner was over we walked back to the underground station where we departed and I went back to Waterloo station and then to Southampton.
By the time I got home I was tired and it was late; but Sheena, George, Becky, and Hardy were making pancakes because it was Pan Cake Day. That was a sad disaster lol. Frankly, I wasn't impressed by the pancakes - I thought they tasted like undercooked dough lol. Also, unlike Sheena and Becky, I was able to flip the pancakes perfectly (except for one which wasn't properly cooked so it was torn apart) and they weren't able to hahaha. Also, Sheena, Becky, and Hardy suddenly decided to go watch some movie which made me wonder why they made a big deal of the whole evening and then just left (the kitchen in a mess hahaha)

Wednesday February 25th:
We were introduced to our new tutor Adam Prugel-Bennett. Our former tutor Craig Saunders has decided to change jobs and is going to France. He resigned sometime in mid-February and we learned about his resignation by chance when one of our lecturers was telling us that he will change the coursework because Craig has quit. We were surprised by what he said and how casually he said it. We were a bit nervous because we didn't know how we will be assigned a new tutor and who he might be. Steve later apologized to us for making us nervous and for telling us the news without realizing that Craig hadn't told us. I have to say that I am a bit disappointed with all this. The MSc program I am enrolled in is running for the first time this year. Up until a couple of months ago they were still changing some things. Also, the person responsible for the whole program was Craig. Craig has been our tutor since day one and though we didn't need him so far, it is after Easter that we will need our tutor because we will have to choose our topics and supervisors after Easter. So, I guess it is natural for us to feel a bit lost with all this going on.
Also, I was chatting with Nabil - one of my high school friends, today. Nothing interesting there except for the below piece of conversation lol
Nabil says (10:42 PM):
w kif kil shi? (and how is everything?)
Amun.t says (10:42 PM):
cava
kholes semester 1 ekher jan (semester 1 ended in late jan)
w balash semester 2 awal feb (and semester 2 started in early feb)
Nabil says (10:42 PM):
cava in england, ur 100% lebanese
lol
It is really funny, because if you are not Lebanese or you've never been to Lebanon you won't realize that we actually speak (and hence chat online) three languages in our local dialect. Also, one of the things that we - and other people - make fun of about ourselves is the way we greet each others. We use the English "Hi", followed by the Lebanese "Kifak?" - i.e. how are you?, and confirmed by the French "Ca va". It is in fact a 'trademark' and tourists who come to Lebanese buy t-shirts with the expression "Hi! Kifak? Ca va" printed on them :). Which reminds me; I want one so I will email Badr to bring me one when he comes here next month *yeey